My fitness journey was always a roller-coaster with its ups & downs like most of us. Since a very young age I was a chubby child that is overweight going into being obese one step at a time as an adult. Generally speaking, my family loves to eat & as most of the families we are not health experts so we just eat our cravings without thinking twice so most of our food is unhealthy. You name it: pasta, pizza, pastry, or deep fried. Before my high-school prom I did a crush diet to look good in the dress. During my first university year, I was a bit depressed so I stopped eating much & lost a bunch of weight without getting up to the scale. It was obvious! And then back to the worst part of my life (and who can relate); then back to eating followed by couple of yo-yo dieting as well.
Eating junk food most of the time.
Drinking soda drinks more than once daily.
Munching on chips & candies all day.
Being a potato coach & lazy all of the time.
Irregular sleeps.
After my university years, I went to a nutritionist & lost 10 KGs. I gained more than the 10 KG right after. Then, lets be fit & started High Intensity Interval Trainings with a high weight & low fitness which was hard. And I stopped right before a business trip to Dubai last year & didn't come back. My job forces me to be in office all the time, sitting on the laptop & munching out of stress.
During the quarantine we were in (still in) because of the global COVID-19 pandemic, I have reached the highest weight ever for me. So before June I have decided that things must change. I won't complete my twenties or thirties or my entire life in this bad habits. In addition to the fact that I need a stronger immunity system to fight any viruses around. So, I did an assessment to my habits & explored all of my options. I am always taking my decisions quickly & without thinking twice. So, I have started a healthier life style in 2 days on the 1st of June. And in one month I have followed the below & lost 6.5 kilos.
Calorie deficit through eating less calories than the calories that will maintain my weight & play more sports to burn more calories.
Eating less processed food that depends on protein, vegetables, and fruits.
Substituting any soda drinks or juices with unsweetened green tea.
Stopping the deep fried foods, pasta, pizza, hamburger, hotdog, candies, and chips.
Drinking a lot of water, around 2.5 - 3 liters daily.
Sleeping well for 7-8 hours daily.
Having a flexible routine.
Having one cheat meal every week that is still within my calorie deficit range.
Walking for 10-15 KM daily.
I have learned the below through trial & error:
Your weight fluctuates all of the time due to your water retention or your carbs/sugars intake or where are you in your cycle (for females).
The scale is your best enemy; so you will always have a love - hate relationship. I love to weight myself daily to see the fluctuations & learn more. However, you should choose the frequency you are more confident with.
One cheat meal per week won't harm you that much, your weight will stay the same or increase due to water retention not fat gain. So, this will just go back down once you are back to your routine. If you can wait for 2 weeks before the cheat meals this would be even better.
Prepare your meals using "My fitness app" every morning, so there is less thinking done on what you will eat. Just check the app & prepare or order your food. So, this auto-pilot helps a lot.
HIIT (or High Intensity Interval Training) might lead to adding some weight on the scale due to the increase happens in your muscles compared to your fats. So, the scale just measures whatever on it. So, if you lost 1 KG of fats & gained 1 KG of muscles you will not lose weight however your shape will become smaller & stronger.
This was my first month. For July, I have enrolled myself to the 30-day weight-loss program by BeFit360 to have a better mindset by Bahaa Hashem, nutrition by Nermeen (Nemo) Wahby, and workouts by Aly Mazhar, Bahaa Hashem, and Mona Kafafi. Wait for July's article to know more & now I will leave you with a before vs after picture.
